F 472 
.C3 B4 
Copy 1 



SHORT HISTORY OF 
CALLAWAY COUNTY 



BY 

OVID BELL 

EDITOR OF THE FULTON GAZETTE 



Published in the History of Northeast 
Missouri, lidited by Walter Williams 



1 : 



'V 



SHORT HISTORY OF CALLAWAY 
COUNTY 

The Kingdom of Callaway, as Callaway County has been call- 
ed since the Civil War. boasts of the patriotism and moral and 
mental fibre of its citizens. Whenever duty has called — whether 
to war, or statecraft, or hard and earnest labor — the men and 
women of Callaway have responded willingly and gladly. The 
first settlers came principally from Virginia and Kentucky, de- 
scendants of the hand who 

Rarely hating ease, 
Yet rode with Spotswood 'round the land, 
■ i Raleigh 'round the seas. 

Their sons and daughters have inherited the land they -ruled. 
and though horn with the pioneer instinct, have remained in the 
county of their birth and given its citizenship stability and worth. 
The manner-, customs and traditions of the pioneers have hern 
handed down through succeeding generations, and though there 
have been several periods of extensive immigration into the 
county from other sections, life in the county remain- true to the 
kindly, helpful, neighborly way- of the father- from th< 
I)' ^minion and the Blue Grass State. 

The first settlement <'\ white men in the county was at I 
San- Dessein, where in 1808 a few French trader- estab 
lished a village and buill a fort. The historian Rose, who was 
not always accurate, says the settlement was founded before 
1800, hut cites nothing to prove his statement, while Henry M. 
Brackenridge, who visited it in 1811, says the village was aboul 
three years old at the time of hi- vi The history of the 



• Bi ack< nrld autlful i 

situated on ili.' northeast side of the river, and in Blghl <<( thi 

li win in " and r n illi v 

<>f ili.' surroui ■ 

Nv ii i, Nssourl, imt n is handsomi ly 

■i.l. Tills v. I. .1 i 

-I thirty mil. 
mi ti !■ 'i' 1 ■ ■ ' rcum- 



1 SHORT HISTORY OF CALLAWAY COUNTY 

Lewis and Clark expedition (1804-06) does not speak of Cote 
Sans Dessein, presumably ' it did n at that time,* 

while the Rev. John Mason Peck positively fixes the date as 

ants of land in the county were made as early as 1800, how- 
ever, for in that year Baptiste Duchoquette, of the city of St. 
Louis, obtained a grant of four thousand arpens from Spain, the 
on being known even m \v a- Survey No. 1^.">T. Cote San> 
in was buill on the land granted to Duchoquette. 

Cote Sans Dessein has ceased to exist, even the po-toffice 
having been discontinued. 'The hill on which it was located re- 
mains, hut the river has encroached on the surrounding ground 
and washed away the old grave yard, while all of the build 
that stood in the original settlement have rotted down. The 
name has hcen given to the township in which the settlement 
was located, and in that way it will he preserved. 

Cote Sans Dessein was the fii chosen for the state capital 

by the commissioners appointed by the General Assembly to 
select a place for the permanent -cat of government. The 
statute appointing the commissioners required that the capital 
should he located within forty miles ><\ the mouth of the < >sage 

detached tun filled with lira landing on the 

■ •f tin- river, aboul 600 yards long, ami very narrow. Tin- village 

bed aboul i hree yea rs; there are 1 1 

families ami two or three Indians. They have handsome fields in the 

prairies, hut thi pari of their time is Bpenl in hunting. 

their eager Inquiries after merchandise, I perceived \\ ■ ready 

Journal >>f Friday, April L2, 1811. 

••1* Louisiana," p. "" 
Switzler, in his "History "f M - louri" (p. 176), said: '•' 

M was once a village "f i Importance, contained a 

small block house, and during the War of 1812 was thi Bome 

fought battles with the Indians, in which were exhibited many 
"f woman's bra very a mi del 
The nam.- <',, "hill without design." 

• t l I he l.' wis and 

print, vol. I, p. ho tells of the explorers camping at the mouth <>f the 
i the nlghl of June I, 11 day in 

the vicinity "for the purpose of mail ng i i observal 

OUth Of thi "At a short ili 

from it I- commanding position, whenc< a dellght- 

fnl pi "high, commanding position" undoubt- 

futun i the return trip 

■pent tin- night of September 19, 1806, at the mouth of the 

• 



SIIokt HISTORY OF < \I1.\WAV COUNTY 

River, and also provided that the commissioners should hold their 
first meeting at Cote Sans Dessein on the first Monday in .May, 
1821. The records of the meeting of the commi have 

been destroyed and the fact cannot be ascertained, but it is be 
lieved that they selected Cote San- Dessein for the capital at that 
meeting. It is known that after Cote Sans Dessein had been 
selected a question concerning the title to the land was raised, 
and that then Jefferson City was chosen. An act of the third 
General Assembly required the commissioners to meet a second 
time at Cote San- Dessein on September 1">. 1821, to complete 
their work, and this second meeting probably was held after the 
question of title came up. 

Daniel Boone is credited with having crossed Callaway County 
in 1808 in company with Captain Clemson, who was on his way 
ablish Fort < >sage. Until a few war- ago an oak tree stood 
on Nine Mile Prairie on which was inscribed, "D. B., l. s, is." and 
local tradition says that the letters and figures were carved by 
Boone. Seven years after that time Col. Nathan Boone, a 
of Daniel Boone, surveyed the Boone's Lick Trail from St. 
Charles to Old Franklin, directly across Callaway County; and 
the following lonel Boone, with Joseph Evans, began a 

survey of the county, which was completed in L817. 

Uncertainty exists concerning who was the first permanent 
American settler. Campbell ("Gazateer of Missouri," p. '.Hi 
and Rose ("Pioneer Families of Missouri," p. 265) accord the 
distinction to the Rev. John Ham, a Methodist minister, and 
fonathan ("row, who built hark cabins on Auxvasse Creek, about 
tm mile- southeast of Fulton, in the fall of 1815. In a brief 
-ketch of James and John Estens, (probabl) Rose (p. 

328") says they came to Callaway County in 1sK> ami also were 
the first American while in still another sketch (p. 384) he 

says \-a William-, of Cote San- Dessein, settled here in the spring 
-i.'». which, if true, probably would make him tin- first \mer- 
ican settler. Mam'- Prairie was named for Nam. and Crow's 
ek for Crow. During the nexl few n few other 



SHORT HISTORY OF CALLAWAY COUNTY 

American settlers came to the county, and by the fall of L811 
a number of families were established in the district which now 
comprises Callaway County. 

Capt. Patrick Ewing, ui Virginia, who later was the second 
sheriff of Callaway Count)-, built the first residence in the coun- 
ty outside the village of Cote Satis Dessein in January, 1816. It 
was located a short distance northwest of the present town of 
Mokane. Aaron Watson located on the Lioone's Lick Trail in 
the spring of 1816, and about the same tune James \ an Dibber, 
oi Kentucky, j settled on Auxvasse Creek, near the present 
Cross-State Highway crossing. Immigration into the county 
was heavy during the next two or three years, and by tbe time 



• Campbell's "Gazateer of Missouri,'' i>. : 

were, in ;unl □ 
Bein, J' mi Baptlste, Francois, Joseph and Louis i. 

tisti Graza, Francois Tyon, Baptlste and Louis 
a, [Francis] Lino LErno], Louis Labras, Liouis Vincennes, Nicholas 
Foy and Louis Lap tan t, French Catholics; Patrick Ewing, Asa Williams, 
Thomas Smith, Jonathan Rams< Evans. 

Further north were John Ham, Jonathan Crow, Rev. William I 
Thomas Kitching, William Pratt, Joseph Callaway, John Ward, 
Watson, Felix Brown ana John French." 

Instead oi living north of Cote Sat iwever, the Ameri- 

cans lived northeast -some mar the present town "i Mokane, and 
ats's Pral 
Jonathan Ramsey, mentioned above, was ;t member "f thi 
framed tli«' Brst constitution of MIsbi 

I i om Montgomei j County, <'i w I 
.. as i ben a part, i le was th 

ed in ii. i y until 

Jane, was the wife of Robert Swing and the motl 
eral of M Issouri fi om 1873 to i • 

! 1 1 ble thai Minerva daughter of James Nan Bibber, and 

(the lattei a granddaughter >>r Daniel Boone), was the 

: child born In Callawaj County. Efforts made by the 

ne who was Dorn earlier have failed. SI 

ol \\ iiiiam .1. I M\ Is, of I !oa ' lampbell 

la the old( woman born in Callaway County. 

■ . i i iii ' .- ordlng 

i... i n in Februarj . 1818. Mr. i ■ irt, of 

i probably Bhe was the 
,i born In th< count) Mr. Burt lives on the farm on 
■ 
ou n t y. His mo t hei 
; i tanlel 
; .Hid. with his brother, John Burt, 

i mm in this part of th< Montgomerj County. 

, built ti • Counts for Neal Cal- 

b on An Ing. 



SHORT HISTORY OF CALLAWAY COUNTY 

the State was admitted into the Union, the county was quite 
generally settled. 

[ohn S. Ferguson, of Kentucky, who settled near Cote Sans 
Dessein in the fall of L817, is credited with having built the first 
mill in the county in the spring of 1818. Previous to that time 
meal and flour were obtained in St. Charles County, or ground by 
the settlers by hand. Henry May, who located on May's Prairie, 
southwesl of Fulton, in the fall of L818, soon afterward built an- 
other mill and also established a race track. John Phillips, who 
settled on Crow'- Fork (.'reek, east and south of Fulton, in 1817, 
built a still house and made whiskey a short time after coming to 
the county. Benjamin and James Goodrich, who settled on 
Auxvasse ('reek, near the present Berry ford bridge, in L817, 
built both a horse mill and distillery. 

Even before Missouri became a state, Callaway County was 
organized out of territory that had previously belonged to Monl 
ry County. It i- one "\ the three counties that can claim 
the distinction of being the twenty-third organized in the S 
for Callaway, and Saline each came into existence on 

November 25, 1820. The county was named for ('apt. James 
Callaway, who was killed by Indians on March 7, 1815, while 
crossing a ford on Loutre ("reek, about two miles below Mineola 
Springs, Montgomery County, where, a year later, [saac Van 
Bibtx 1 his famous tavern. 

The first officials of the county were appointed by Alexander 
McNair, firsl governor of Missouri. Judge Irvine ( >. Hock- 
aday,* founder of a distinguished Missouri family, came from 
Winchester, Kv.. to become clerk of the circuit and county courts 

• Judge i ■ i Hockaday w I th< r "f 

, of Fulton, who was attori ourl from 1876 

■ 

ami I 

n \. i |,,,i born on Hockaday Hill, Ful- 

v ..f Fulton nd In 

ber of thi il lowed to 

Itutlonal ■'■-■■ He waa graduati d from 

In the d< - 
only child, 
kaday, II 



SI CALLAWAY COUNTY 

and to act a-; treasurer, and W'ynkoop Warner, of Nine Mile 
Prairie Township, was sheriff and acting collector. The county 
court was composed of Benjamin Young,* Stephen C. Dorris 
Israel B. Grant.f Robert Criswell was appointed assessor by 
the county court, and David Sterigere was recommended by the 
court to Governor McNair for appointment as surveyor, and 
later was commissioned by the governor. 

The first session of the circuit court was held on February 5, 
1821, at the tavern of Henry Brite, at the northwest corner of 
Ham's Prairie, about one-half mile northwest of the present vil- 
of that name. Rufus Pettibone, of St. Charles, afterward a 
member of the State Supreme Court, presided, holding his com- 
mission from Governor McNair. The grand jury called for that 
term of court was the first to meet in the county and was com- 
posed of James Van Bibber, Samuel Miller, James Guthridge, 
Patrick Ewing, Thomas Hornbuckle, Robert Craghead, Robert 
Criswell, Josiah Ramsey, Jr., Richard Humphreys, James Hen- 
derson, John Nevins, Arthur Xeal. Robert Read. William C 
James Langley, William II. Dunnica, John Gibson, William Hall, 
John Evins [Evans], Thomas Smith and Wharton Moore. Mr. 
Moore was foreman. The jury reported to the court that there 
was no business to come before it and was discharged. 

A week later, on February 12, L821, the county court m 

•After serving on the county court nearly ;i year, Jud 

and Samuel T. Moore, who lived <>n Ham's Prairie, and 
found) i- or one branch of the Moore family In Callaway County, \\:is ap- 
d take his place Judgi Fo lected a member <>f the 

tlnued in thai office until 

.1 member "f the Btate constitutional ■ 
of i • 

urdered bj i« 
:ui<l i ■ .i The murder was the first in the county. 

Grant and thi wil- 

Cowherd, grandfather of William S. Cowherd, ol City, 

of i ha t cit tative in C from 

on < Jounty disl rlct. William S. Co 

and Implies ted the Cowhei 
i ni the tolllni ii which announci d ti ■ 

■ i that the 
• u as Inno andfa ther at the 

■ i lal," Mi Cowherd saj . "that he left l '.i lis waj 



SHORT HISTORY OF CALLAWAY COUNTY 9 

the same place. Much of the business of the first session of the 
court concerned highways, a- it does today, and has throughout 
the county's history. One of the first acts of the court was the 
division of the county into two townships, the one east of Aux- 
vasse Creek being called Auxvasse, and the one w< i Sans 
I i ein. When the court met in May, 1821, Round Prairie, 
Elizabeth < now Fulton), and Nine Mile Prairie townships were 
created. Cedar Township was formed in 1824 and Bourbon in 
Liberty Township came into existence in 1838, while the 
other townships of the county are comparatively modern in their 
origin. 

The election of August 5, 1822, was the first held in the o 
ty after its organization. Judge John B. C. Lucas, father of the 
man whom Thomas II. Benton killed in a duel, carried the coun- 
ty for representative in Congress, securing 146 votes, to 96 casl 
for John Scott, of Ste. Genevieve, who had been territorial dele- 
gate to Congress and who was elected representative, and 33 for 
Alexander Stewart. Jonathan Ramsey was elected representa- 
tive in the General Assembly; Wynkoop Warner, sheriff, and 
Samuel T. < iuthrie, cor< mer. 

The meeting place of the first court- was designated in the 
statute which created the county ("Law- of a Public and Gen 
>eral Nature of the District of Louisiana," etc., vol. i. p. 679). 
The same statute appointed commissioners f to locate the county- 
Mai, and they subsequently -elected a site near Brite's tavern 
and named it Elizabeth,^ in honor of Brite's wife. Elizabeth re- 



• The figures <<u the i ken from the 

Bourl Intelligencer, published al Franklin, Howard County, i 
■ this newspaper are owned by the Missouri H 
• v. Columbia. 

t The commission wa ■' of Hem B William McLaugh- 

lin, Samuel Miller and rult. They reported on their work on 

• mi, of March, 1821, all bul Fruit favoring Elisabeth. Hi 

round thai the slti ounty. 

ntly he was In harmony with the sentlmt 

■ loned the <;. n< ral 
• ion "f the counts 

j c 100 

the ni. mbers of tii>> 



in SHORT HISTORY 01 ( VLLAWAY COUNTY 

mained the county-seat until 1825, when, by authority of the 
General Assembly, the permanent seat of government was moved 
ilton, where it has since been located. During the years that 
Elizabeth was the county-seat Brite's tavern was used for a court 
house. 
The original town of Fulton* comprised 50 acres of land 

tirst county court, and Thomas Smith. The town was platted, lota 
Bold, and at least a jail built. The jail was burned shortly after it was 
ecords of the county <lc. not give location of the 

roposed town. When the county-seal was moved to Pul- 
ton, i ■ lots in Elizabeth were given the privilege of buying 
lois in Pulton tn take tin place of those bought In Elizabeth ("Laws of 
a Public a I Nature of the State of Missouri, 1804-1831 
p. 10), while the ground on which Elizabeth \\ . I back 
- "in in and Smith. 

A tradition says- and the writer thinks it Is probably tru< — thai 

trite tavern was located on the farm now owned bj C P Shinier 

(1912), just east of Elizabeth. The Shiftier house Is built of io-_;s and as 

it stands lias two stories, though it Is said that Inal house was 

one story high, and as it was buill constituted the em. 

Bi • .•in also contaii which was owned by Colli 

Company, of St. Charles, and was managed by John Yates, founder of 
the Yates family In Callaway County. Mr. Yates became a partner In 
the sinr. sunn after it was opened, and In 1825 moved It to Pulton, then 
buying oul the Interest of his partners. He buill the first house <>n the 
nal town of Pulton at the southwest corner of th< ■ 
Bquare. The store at Elizabeth was the second In the county, the 
first i><- i ii m: located at Cote Sans Dessein and owned by Daniel Colgan, 
Jr Mr. Yates died In 1853. Dr Martin Yates, a Pulton physician, la 
his youngest son. 

•'I'ln- site of Pulton was selected by James Moss and James Mc- 
Clelland. ..f Boi ty, ami James Talbot, "f Monti County, 
appointed commissioners for that purpose by the <; 
ibly. They located tin- town Julj 29, 1825, and named it Volney, 
in l'r. nih Infidel. The countj court on the first day of August, 
following, changed the name to Pulton, in honor of Robert Pulton, in- 
r ef the Bteamboat. Robert Dunlap, who lived northeast of the 
town and was the founder of the Dunlap family in Callaway County, is 
credited with having proposed tin- nam. Pulton. When Mr. Nichols 

BOld tie- land mi which the town was located, In had no d his 

title from the government, ami was required by the < imissi.oi 

bond nf $6,000 that he would n d when he Becured title. 

ocument is still on file in the office of ■ 

County. Th. original town • many nf 

Bold for $1 apiece. Th< 

from tin- sale nf iota amounted altogethei The tit 

S e p 1 1 m l • • 

G Bei y, who died in 1 906 at thi 

who hud off tin- town nf Pulton. Mr ! 
■ i :• ' ■ . ..r Kentucky, who si ned the bond of T 
i Hanks, mot her of Vbi 

• 
i Pulton 

tils ninety-fifth 
n t y. 



:T history ok CALLAWAY county 11 

bought from George Nichols* for $50. The town was platted by 
Henry May. Ezra B. Sitton and Hans Patton, who were appoint- 
ed by the General Assembly as a commission to erect a court 
house and jail. The original town lay between Sixth and Firsl 
streets, north and south, and Bluff and Nichols streets, east and 
wot. 

A brick court house was built in Fulton in 182*3 28 liv S. J. 
Ferguson at a cost of $l,297,f and remained in use until 1856, 
when it was superseded by the present court house building. The 
structure was :'>•; feet square, two stories high, and had brick 
floors on the ground floor, making what was considered the finest 
court house west of the Mississippi River at that time. When 
the first court house was torn down. Daniel M. Tucker, who was 
then and for many years afterward a merchant in Fulton, bought 
tin 1 building for $400 and used the brick in erecting his dwelling, 
which stood at the head of Court Street until 1911, the year after 
his death. The presenl court house was erected by Alfred 1. 
Moore at a com of si 7,850. 



•Mr. Nichols w.-is ;i native of Loudon county, Virginia, and the 
founder of the Nichols family in Callaway County. He entered the land 
nn which tli'- original town "f Fulton was built in December, 1824, ana. 
contrary t<> mosl statements concernin 

on which the town was located. The lirst ho ■ ted within the 

: Fulton, though nol the first in the original town, 
was tin- log structure ho built in Wesl Fourth Street, n< corner 

of Jefferson, which stood until abi The writer remember 

ing it in 1885. It Is said thai Mr. Nichols had to Bend ten miles to 
men to help him "raise" the house Mr. Nichols was the grandfather of 
James Irvine Nichols, who. with Judgi - D. Thurmond, and Dr 

John Jay Rice, of the faculty of Westmln ilished The 

Fulton « iazette In 11 

tory has been told thai used In building 

the tlrst court house was obtained from the forfeited bond of Hiram 

i. who was convicted In 1823 on a charge of I 'intr. The 

Is of the circuit court show that after his conviction Bryanl 

bond himself f ml his brother, William Bryant, 

additional bond for the same amount. Tlv records show that judgment 

On the hoii. Is '.■ 'ill, hut do nol show that the 

judgment was 

mers who erected the court 1 in the 
s i me. t he r< cords are not 
After tl ' ernmenl from Elizabeth to Ful- 
ton ami b ' if th nn house, the courts of the 

net at the house "f Joseph T. Sitton, who is sn have 

per. 



L2 SHORT HISTORY OF CALLAWAY COUNTY 

The first minister to settle in the county was the Rev. John 
I Iain, who came in 1815. He was a Methodist, though two of 

rothers were ministers of the Baptist church. Next to 
come, probably, was the Rev. William Coats,* a Primitive Bap- 

Eor whom Coats's Prairie was named, and who settled here 
in 1817. Campbell (p. 98a) says that the Rev. James E. Welch 
and the- Rev. John M. Peck, both Baptists, preached in the coun- 
ty during the years 1817-18-19. The Rev. John Scrip] 

* K. S. Duncan in his "History of the Baptists in Missouri" (p. 
Bays: "As a member of the 'pion •!•■' of Baptist emigrants to 

William Coats well deserves a place In this chapter. 
i been a member of the Baptist denomination nearly twenty years 
came to Missouri, and a few years after this event in his life 
.•ame a Baptist minister. . . The flrst Baptist church in Calla- 
way County was formed at his home by Rev. Jamee E. Welch, in June 
[May], 1818. There was no pastor to pay them the usual 'monthly 
visits.' and the little Bock was greatly encouraged by the influei 

a and Smith, who kept up prayer meetings regularly in 
the community." 

Mr. Coats came to Missouri from Tennessee and died here in 1834 
or 1835. Many of his descendants live in the county. 

. McAnally's "Methodism In Missouri" (pp. 207-8) quotes Scripps as 
follow.-: "The eastern extremity of my circuit was on the Monlteur 
Creek [Moniteau Creek, Howard County], from which eastwardly, Btill 
farther down, on the north side of the river, were several scattering 

the village of Cote Sans du Seln, a dlstai 
miles. To this I resolved to extend my labors, and renew my acquaint- 

\; I Evans, my fellow traveller to Vlncenn 

September, 1816. I preached Beveral times on my way down and form- 
ed a of thirtei n members on ( The villa 
Sans du Sein was populated principal^ ch Catholics, over whom 
puted Deist, was said to • \ at Influence, and II 
hi he would not suffer preaching then menl was 
m, . but l pressed on. i le cordis I d me, ob- 
i for me the ia iom In town to preach it!, and procured the 
abitants al preaching; nor did he ever seem to 
try in his efforts, althou nalned Irreligious. The place 
ippointmenl and a small eiass was formed thei 
>i Ramsey's settlement, about four miles higher up the 
her father-in-law. Mi - [Hannah] FergUBOn [mother 
of T. J on], and Brother Tom (the i principally wenl by), 
i Met hod tour in all. Joined thla 

ety tot in. d on i i ek was located In 

.ml it is e hat ii was in 

mil. B 
ith, In 181 8, a i d Mr John ( illmore, of thi 

ih> count Mr. Zumwall w 

That 1 ■ the natural thing would be for him to have 

i visit him and pr< ach at hi 

on of John 8. 1 • publish* d In 

The Fulton Gazette ol ■<> «h<> 

of William Nash the Al 

• 

mber, 1817. 



SHORT HISTORY OF ( VLLAWAY COUNTY L3 

Methodist circuil rider, held services in the county in the sum- 
mer or fall of 1818 and probably was the first minister of hi 
nomination to visil Callaway County in a clerical capacity. "< >f 
the pioneer Christians," says Campbell (p. 98a), "perhaps Rev. 
David Kirkpatrick preached the first Presbyterian sermon ever 
delivered in the county [1823]." 

A Catholic mission which was established at Cote San- Dessein 
in lMii was the firsl religious organization in Callaway County. 
Probably before the mission was established the village was visit- 
ed hy the Rev. Fr. Joseph Dunand, a Cistercian priest who was 
stationed at St. Charles from L809 to 1815, for all of the 
inhabitants of the village were French Catholics from Canada. 
The Coir San- Dessein church was turned over to the Jesuits in 
. on their arrival in Missouri, and they retained charge of it 
at least until 1839. The organization passed out of existence 
many year- aj 

The first Protestant church in the county was Salem Primitive 
Baptist,+ located on Coat's Prairie, east of Reform, which was 

• This date was gotten from the Rev. John J m, archbishop 

of St. Louis, who, In a letter to the writi "From all accounts the 

on ;ii i' Sans Dessein was established In the year 1816. I 

thai ill" river swepl it away. A small church was bulll In the 
rariy days and 1 think some of the fixtures belonging t<> it are now 
with die Church at Bonnot's Mill, or at Westphalia, 

■ 

From Tousand Foy, of Fulton, it is learned that at least Borne "f the 
ds "i" the church are at Westphalia, but efforts made '" gel In- 
forms tlon from 1 1 ■ I here falli 'l 

Ti ■ 'i to the Rev. Fr Lawrence .' Kenny, S J . 
St. Louis University, for the information 
cerning th< tion of the Jesuits with the church. St. Louis Uni- 
ts many r rds of early-day baptisms, marriages and di 

• in. 

:. S. Duncan in hi* "Hlstoi tlsts in Missouri" (p 149) 

"At tin' house "i William Coats, in what 

i Welch, thi if the Triennial < Jonvi n- 

' lay. 181 - 
Church," with nine meml "f whom idenl men, 

fmmed 
nizal ion was completi d, the chip 

m the l" olemn 

• Ich In his 
of the W( 

Mils church, which urn .1 In D 

on." 



1 I SIloRT HISTORY OF CALLAWAY COUNTY 

organized May 31, 1818. \ substantial log house was built under 
tin- supervision of the Rev. William Coats, and the building was 

used lor religious and school purposes many years. Church ser- 
vices were held in it as late as 1880, and a few of the logs in the 
structure, though greatly decayed, are still on the ground. The 
cemetery adjoining the site of the old church probably is the 
oldest public burying ground in Callaway County. 

Miller's Creek Methodist Church,* organized in 1820 by the 
Rev. James Scott, of the Cedar Creek Circuit of the Missouri 
Conference, was the second Protestant church f in the county. A 
church house was not built until some time afterward, however, 
and services during the interim were laid at the house of Samuel 
and Polly Miller.^ 

•The "History of Callaway County" says the Aral Methodist church 
away County was organized in 1821 at tin- house "f K. M. i 
head, tour miles southwesl of Pulton. It was not the Bret church, how- 
ever, for Miller's Creek Church was first. Mrs. Margarel Nichols, "f 
Fulton, now 77 years old, who is a granddaughter of Mr. Craghead, Bays 
preaching services were held at tin- house "t' her grandfather until his 
death in 1857. Mrs. Nichols thinks the Pulton Methodist Church 

oi ranization effected In 1821. Mr. Craghead rani.' to Mis- 
Bouri from Franklin County, Virginia, in ims, and was the flrsi i 
head in the county. George Nichols, the husband of Mrs. Nichols, was 
the only Confederate killed al the Overton Run li^in. southwi 
ton, "it July 17, 1861. 

t Campbell (p. 98b) Bays: "At an early day Bouth of Millersburg, in 
tin- western i art <>f the county, lived Abraham Ellis, ami mar his 

oious camp ground thai witnessed the early so 
triumphs of Methodism." The camp i doubtless wei 

of tin iif«- of tin' Miller's Creek Church. Abraham Bills reared a fam- 
devoul Methodist children, oni ol whom Mrs T. B Bedsworth, of 
Pulton — is still living. 

1 Ri ivs tiiat Mrs. Miller was the Aral Methodisl in Cal- 

laway County, ami givea the date "f her removal t<> the c 
The Aral Methodist, however, was the Rev. John Ham, who, possibly 
one "f tin- firal two American Bottlers in the •(mn'v. The Rev 
John Scri] rti t" Mel hodlsm . , n ami 

a t Ramaej 'a Bel t lemenl In t 

Mi Miller were the parents <>f tl 

Miller, i»|i, who attaint ' thodist minister 

born and reared In Callaway County He 
born January 1, iv.i. and after graduating from 

Philadelphia, and pracl edicine for a time, 

.1 t)i. ministry In 1858. Whlh paator of 
Columl i, Mo., he studied at and uated from th< n I var- 

sity. 1 1 • - <•( natural aclence at C 'ayette, 

Mo., ft "in i 870 untl I th< n pr< sld< 

. MO II- 'li' '1 in LOUiS^ illr. K> . 



5H0B r HISTi ' " . i 'i l \l.r. \W.\Y COUNTY 1 ■"> 

( »ld Cedar Primitive Baptisl Church, located west of the vil- 
lage of Stephens, was organized July 1 I, 1821, and Thomas Pey- 
ton Stephens' 1 was among its earl) | h is one of the three 
Primitive Baptisl organizations still maintained in the county, and 
among its members are grandchildren of it- firsl pasl 

The Cumberland Presbyterians were the third Protestant 
body to establish a church in the county. They organized Mew 
Providence, located al Guthrie, on October I. 1823, and the 
"History of Callaway County" (p. 521 | says the Rev. Roberl 
Sloan was instrumental in effecting the organization. The 
church has remained stedfast to it- original faith throughout all 
of the intervening years, and is one of the few churches of the 
denomination in Missouri which rejected union with the Presby- 
terian Church, U. S. A., in 1905. 

Middle River Primitive Baptist Church, in the southern | 
of the county, was organized in August, 1824, by the Rev. Wil- 
liam I nd Providence church of the same denomination, 
Ideated northeast of New Bloomfield, was organized in L826. 
Providence went over to the Missionary Baptists when division 
came, and the congregation now worships in a house in New 
Bloomfield. 

Old Au: i two miles north of Calwood, the mother 



islon, while i 'v church, Dr. 

Miller announced t<> \\\> he had something i them 

which he was ashamed their faces, and that h<- then turned 

ick and while looking at the wall, said thi he had to 

• Elder Stephens was born In North Carolina In 1787 He moved to 
Kentucky In 1816, and three years later bei member >>( the 

church, l! County In 1820, and the next 

with "his brotl h, William Edward Black and Abi 

... with :i few sisters, org-anlzed Cedar ■ irch," 

1 tuncan (p. 293). 1 ' r ""' 

md continued In the ministry until his death on April 2, 

onstltuent 

Mary K< 
la P. Tate, John H Ann 

n Hamllti 
. lecti ■' Tn " ' 

Robli 

•pi . n F. Cowan, D.D h ' 8 Afty- 

■ ""- 



16 SHORT HISTORY OF CALLAWAY COUNTY 

nf Presbyterianism in Callaway County, was organized on the 
thirty-first of May, L828. A few Presbyterian families settled in 
that part of the county in 1820, and after 1823 preaching services 
were held occasionally by itinerant ministers at the- homes of the 
settlers. A log house-, 20 by 26 feet in size, was "raised" on 
February L3, L826 — more than two years before the church or- 
ganization was perfected. In the middle of one side of the house 
was a door and opposite it was the pulpit and a window. 

Millersburg Presbyterian Church.* now known as White Cloud 
Presbyterian Church, which was organized November 26, 1831, 
was the second of that denomination in the county; and Concord, 
organized June 25, 1833, was the third. 

Antioch Christian Church,f three miles south of Williamsburg, 
organized in ( )ctober, 1828, was the parent church of the Disciples 
in the county. The second organization of the denomination was 
in Fulton. 

The Primitive Baptists were the first to organize a church in 
Fulton. The date has been lost, but it was some time prior to 
May 15, 1830, for on that day the church obtained title to the lot 
at the corner of East Sixth and Bluff streets on which the Fulton 
Negro Baptist Church stands. The church was organized at the 
house of James MeKinney. one of its first trustees, and was 



equalled west "f the Mississippi River. The church is one >>f th< 
prosperous rural co ons In the State and has services every 

Sunday. From it have sprung the churches ■ > f AuguBta, Auzvasse City, 
and Nine Mile. 

•The constituent members <>f Millersburg Presbyterian Church 
were: Matthew Culbert, Prudence Culbert, Amerger Lilly, Sarah P. 
Lilly, William Hamilton, Rebecca Hamilton, Joseph D. Hamilton, Jane 
B, Hamilton, Margaret w. Hamilton, Andrew W, Hamilton, 

Bliss Reed, John Robl on, Barber; S. Robison, and Mary [Swing. 
William P. Cochran wa tor "f the meeting at which 

Thi nam< of the church was changed to 
White Cloud in 1868. Mounl Olivet Presbyterian Church, Ju 
I i iiis church. 

i [istory of < '.e llaway I final 

members "f Antioch Church were Philip Love, Elisabeth Lo^ 

id an, Polly McMahai Duncan, Nancy D 

William i ■ kman, Mrs. ESnoch Fruit, v 

■ ' [sham and John McMahan, 



-IImi; i HISTORY OF CALLAWAY COUNTY 11 

named Liberty,* for one of his sons. The Rev. Theodrick Boul- 
vvare f was its first pastor and continued to serve the congregation 
until his removal to Kentucky in 1866. A $3,000 brick church 
In ni.se was erected in L833 34, and though it has undergone many 
alterations, is still used for religious purposes. The organization 
died oul before the beginning of the present century. 

The Methodists probably had the second religious organization 
in Fulton, their church dating from about 1833, though circuit- 
riders (among them the Rev. Andrew Monroe) of that denomina- 
tion visited the town a- early as 1828 and held services. The 
Disciples of Christ effected an organization in the count) 
between 1833 and L835, while the Presbyterians delayed their 
organization until June 1 1. 1835. 

Life in the county during its first year- was not unlike that 
elsewhere on the frontier of civilization. The men were n 
ami stalwart, the women strong and resourceful, and under their 
hands farm- were cleared of timber, settlements established, and 
highways opened. .Many of the pioneers were slave owners and 
brought their bondmen with them when they immigrated to the 
State, and until slavery was abolished, the institution was recogiz 



* The "i i nty" (p. 9 16 > sa 5 

stituenl members of Liberty Church were Theodrick Boulwan 

fichols and wife, William Ficklin ana wife, William Mar- 
tin and wife, Benjamin Bailey ana wife, Samuel Martin ana wife, and 
R. Sheley ana wife. John Jameson l ana William Armstri 
trustees of the church In i- h th< y may not have been 

stituent members. .i<>lin Flcklin, deceased, a nephew of one of the 
charter member of the church, member. 

Ilder Boulware was born In i ember 13, 

He was ordained a minister of I Church In Kentucky In 

July. 1810, and preached In thai State until he moved to a farm lot 
two ana one-half miles north "f Fulton, in l'827 Hi bi gan i" preai 
soon as he arrived In Callaway, ana though the records have been lost 
ana the fa ; . it is probable hi d the Ful- 

ton (Libel m after his arrival. E ware 

was a mai mental attainments and uncompromising In hi 

tor of the 
on church until 1866, when, says Oum 

oath' and being threatened with Imprisonment [for pi 

li.- left Mis.--i.uri . . ana V ilh Ills d 

■ 

Boulware was married I v of nine children. 

The last surviv of Fulton, 

now - old, the yi hlld, who, In his pi 

prominent criminal 



18 SHORT HISTORY OF CALLAWAY COUNTY 

ed and accepted by the mosl influential men of the county. The 
county was an independent community, for besides the grain and 
tables required for food, the land grew the cotton which was 
needed to make the lighter clothing, while the farmers raised the 
-heep from which wool was gotten for the heavier clothing. 
Game was plentiful — even buffalo being seen at times — and such 
time as the settlers were nol employed at other pursuits they de- 
voted to the chase. Even the powder the settlers used was made 
in the county, as were the augers, the guns, the wagons, the hats, 
and the hoots and shoes. Indians had long since ceased to be a 
menace and the years were filled with a contentment such as only 
like communities know. 

Schools came early. Among the first, if nol the first, was 
taughl by Joseph James, four miles above Cote Sans Dessein i in 
the Ramsey settlement, probably), in the winter iA 1818-19, ac- 
cording to T. J. Ferguson, who has been previously quoted. An- 
other pioneer schoolmaster was "Peg-leg" David Dunlap, who 
taught in Fulton shortly after the town was laid out. 

The population increased rapidly, going from 1,79*3 by the 
state census in 1821, to 6,159 by the government census in 1830. 
growth in political prominence was equally rapid. Besides 
having a member of the first constitutional convention of the 
state (Jonathan Ramsey), it had a state senator (Benjamin 
Young), and later it furnished a speaker of the lower hous< 
the General Assembly (John Jameson) in L834 and 1836. It was 
Whig in its politics and remained so practically until the Civil 
War. though occasionally a Democrat succeeded in being elected 

to office. Notwithstanding its Whig tendencies, it always gave 

a majority to the county candidates for Congress. Thus Alberl 
< ',. Harrison,* who was elected representative in Congress in 

• Mi. Harrison was born In Mount Sterling, Ky., June 26, 1800. He 
• i Transylvania Un a law 1 hei • 

< Pulton In 1 B27, and i he m xl year Pr< 

Andr< • 'I him one of the visitors t<> attend the annual 

t Point Milltfl Mr. Han 1 Sep* 

temb He lived on the lull w ilton, near th< 

"f David Smith. Jilson P. Harrison, of Calwood, is tiis nephew. The 
family is not related i" the other Harrisons <>( the county. 



SHORT HISTORY 01 CALLAWAY COUNTY 19 

as a Van Buren Democrat, got the hi: te given that year 

to any of the four candidates for Congress. Capt. John Jame- 
son/ another Democrat, who served three terms in Congress be- 
tween L839 ;m<l L849, also carried the county every time he was 
a candidate. 

Mr. Harrison and Mr. Jameson were among the first, if 
nol the first, resident lawyers in the county. Mr. Jame- 
son opened an <>t"tuv in Fulton in 1826, and Mr. Harrison arrived 
and entered upon practice the following year. Both were m 
strong intellect and fit to lead at the bar and in public affair-. 
Mr. Jameson followed .Mr. Harrison in Congress, and was the 
man from Callaway County to serve in the federal legislature. 

The exacl facts concerning the establishment of the old towns 
of the county probably have been lost forever. Either Smith's 
Landing, located o resent town of Mokan 

Elizabeth, the first county-seat, was the next village after 
Sans Dessein. Thomas Smith settled on the ground on which 
Mokane is built in 1818, and soon afterward established a ceme- 
tery and boat landing. Samuel Ewing, his brother-in-law and 
the brother of Capt. Patrick Ewing, looked after his business al 
the Landing. The cemetery is -till u-vA as a burial place by the 

>f the early settlers. The village was known a 
Aubert for many yea 

Thomas Miller, who came to Callaway County from Kentucky 

in 1826, laid >>U the town of Millersburg, and named it for Mil- 

lersburg, Kv. The records of the county recorder'- office show 

of Millersburg was filed on October 15, 1829. It 

rank- next t( i Fulton in age. 



• i ■ ..f John Jameson I ol mery 

north of Pulton In 
bulll ■ a in ilu of Fulton. It Is s;ii>l thai Mr. 

■ t the la 
i He was a membi r of thi of tln> 

Fulton Pi 

■ 
■ i wiili Senator Thomas Hai 



SIloUT HISTORY OF CALLAWAY COUNTY 

Portland was laid off Septen bi r B, 1831, by Johri Yates, the 
Fulton merchant, and Eden Benson. Possibly the village was in 
existence al an earlier time. Later on Portland became second in 
importance only to Fulton, and at one time was its commercial 

rival. Located on the Missouri River, shipping to and from it 
was easy, and it became the trading point for a large section. It 
retained its importance as a tobacco market up to about 1885, 
when the culture of tobacco in the eastern part of the county be- 
came unprofitable. 

Williamsburg was laid off December 1. 1836, by B. < i. 1). Mox- 

and named for Harvey William.-, who was interested with 

him and a man named Compton in the town's first -tore. It is 

said that the town was founded two year- before it was laid off. 

Concord, which is not even a postoffice now. was laid off by 
John Henderson on May L8, 1837. Before the building of the 
Chicago and Alton Railroad it was the most important trading 
point in north Callaway. 

Two companies were furnished by the county in the Black 
I lawk Indian War. one going out under Capt. John Jameson, and 
the other under (apt. Patrick Ewing. They did duty alternately 
at Fori Pike, on the he- Moines River, just below Keokuk, [owa. 
Jameson's company left Fulton on July 1. 1832, and was awaj 
about -i\ weeks, while Ewing's company went out in August and 
was "ii duty even a shorter time. Neither company partici] 
in an engagement. 

The next war to which the county furnished men was that 
with Mexico. Company II of Doniphan's immortal expedition 
was organized in Callaway with ('apt. Charles B. Rodgei 

• Captain Ro rved In the Florida Seminole War under 

I was wounded in ' irm by an arrow al 1 1» « • 

batth orn in Halifax, Va . on Novembi 

-., v.tha Ward Overfell In Bedford County, 

nla, In 1828. With his family he moved t" Pulton In 1880, and a 

few • erward boughl and moved t" tin farm now owned by 

• the Fulton city limits. He died thei 
. buried in tii- Roi ground, eight mile* 

nnrtr I'niti m. His son, Charles Austin Rod under 

him in thi d In tin- Civil War w tain In the 

The fan Mi Ro< 

nd fiiut' di 



SHOB ! HIST IRY I i] CALLAWAY COUNTY 2 1 

captain. The roster of the company contained 111 nai 
cording to Connelle liphan's Expedition" (pp. I. » 

The company left Fulton on June 1 I. L846, g 1 orl Leaven- 

worth, where it joined the remainder of the expedition, and then 
began upon the mi icular military exploit in the history of 

the United States. The company served throughout the cam- 
paign and was mustered out at New < >rleans on June 21, 1- 

The Banner of Liberty, established in Fulton in 1839 by War- 
ren Woodson, Jr., was the first newspaper* published in the coun- 
ty. The next year [saac Curd and William Henry Russell be- 
came editors of the paper and changed its name to Fulton Re- 
former. Then the name was changed to Western Star by W. A. 
irt, who remained in charge until 1843. Duncan & Goggin 
in 1845 named the paper Fulton Telegraph. 



•Though the county lias a number "f newspa this time, and 

id many which had brief careers, only two of her newspapers have 

raph is one and The Fulto 

Two men i>f special brillance hav< paper work 

real In the 
ish< il the Press in 1 868, 
i in C. Kouns, who published 1 1 1 . 

In F 'Ut 1871 

from the 
ty, a n alii' a rid a wi 

from 1873 to 
- the M • 1 1 ■ • 
In Ra aunty about 1902. Mr. Provlnes wrote a small hand, but 

formed evi 

his style would be 
i-.-i lied w, for his day it could 

knew more about English compo: 

ever I n his I o know. Hi was tall, I knightly, and 

his old age, his lon« hair and beard were v< 
Kouns wa than Koui 

physicians of Fulton, and was born I ( nine- 

Latin h 

Fulton until nnlng 

nf the Civil War, when he joined 

many 

■ 

1 " \rins. 
try i if Hi. 
of ii that ii sho 

oliiM. now Mrs. Tl 



SHORT HISTORY OF CALLAWAY COUNTY 

The State Lunatic Asylum, now known a> State Hospital No. 
1. was located in Fulton on July L3, 1847. An act of the General 
Assembly approved on February 16, 1847, provided for the estab- 
lishment of the institution, and for its location within the counties 
of I'.oone, Callaway, Chariton, Cole, Cooper. Howard, Moniteau 
and Saline. When the commissioners met at Boonville, bids 
from a number of counties were received, and the offer of ( 
way to give about 500 acres of land and $11,500 in money being 
considered the best, the institution was located here, The con 
tract for erecting the building was lei to Solomon Jenkins on 
April it;. 1849, for $47,450, and the building was opened and the 
first patient* received on December .. 1851. The first superin- 
tendent of the hospital was Dr. Turner R. II. Smith, t and the 
first treasurer Judge James S. Henderson.^ Charles 11. Ilanlin.§ 

•The first patient at the asylum was Thomas Green, who came 
from .Jackson County ami was discharged March 22, 1862. ll. i\ Hunter, 
of Callaway County, who was admitted December l, 1861, was thi 
ond patient. Charles H. Thorp, of Adair County, who was admitted 
October :'.i>, 1862, ami was ih' Blxty-third patient received, died at the 
institution on August 1. 1911. He was dismissed from the hospital 
four times, but each time had to be returned. More than 10,400 patients 
have been il the institution, while l.ioo are under treatment at 

this tinn. 

t With the exception of about seven years, Dr. Smith was Buperin- 
•it of the Fulton State Hospital from the time it opened until his 
death at the Institution on December 21, 1886, He was born in christian 
County, Kentucky, February 21, L820, ami was a practicing phyc 
at Columbia, Mo., when he was 21 years old, His wife was Mat;, i:.. eld- 
est sister of Governor Charles h. Hardin. Few men who have liv< 
Fulton have left Buch an impress upon the life of the town, and prob- 
ably note- lias been more universally loved. 

(Judge Henderson was a .-.hi of Daniel Henderson, who died July 

the Bei i person buried in <>id A.uxvass< Presby- 

Church cemetery, the first person buried in the cemetery being a 

child. Judge Henderson was a successful merchanl in Fulton from 

l B30 to 1842, when in- was elected count] treasurer, ami he held that 

• ■il until he became treasurer of the State Hospital. He continued 

urei "I Ho- hospital until iss:: Judg< Henderson assisted in 

Izlng the Fulton branch of the Western Bank of Missouri in 1867 

ami became its cashier, continuing in the position until after the begin - 

[] War. when the bank went into liquidation The hank 

the first in Callaway County, ami the Callaway Bank "f Fulton 

its history hark to it. Judge Henderson lived many years in a 

hrlek house on the north Bide of the court house square in Fulton. His 

wife whs Emll hter of Jesse B i inddaughi 

ip died in Fulton in January, 1884. 

Of 1 he t w-' nty-t hfee ■ • I' 1 'a id il 

in tin active praot f law were spent in Fulton and here he mad. the 



■.'". 

afterward governor of Missouri, was the first secretary of the 
board of managers, and held the position about ten years. The 
hospital was closed during part of the Civil War and the buildings 
and grounds were used for barracks by the Federal soldiers 
tioned in the county, and also for a military prison in which to 
confine disloyal ( !allawegians. 

I >ef< ire the Hospital for fnsane was opened, an act of the Gen- 
eral Assembly was approved on February 28, L851, establishing 
the Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb (now of- 
ficially designated The Missouri School for Deaf) and giving to 
it to acre- of ground and a two-story frame building that had 
belonged to the State Lunatic Asylum. The building was ! 
ed near the building now used by the State I [ospital as a cow barn, 
and there, on November 5, 1851, under the superintendenc 
Prof. William Dabney Kerr the first pupilf of the school was 
enrolled. In 185-1 the present site of the school was boughl and 
a building costing $28,000 The scl d during the 



i] ship tor him 
I, who al ■! i hlrty years In tin 

i Hardin loca ti d here In I 
from 1848 to 1( 

1 1 1 ■ \\ 

I860 The 

mil it Ills 

death. Hi term 

born In T County, Kenl ucky, on July 16, 

i nd <\\> a :i i Mexico, Mo . on .1 ill \ 

•The life of Professor Kerr will b with the 

t mute education . while his memory is 

father, thi Rev. John 1 superinti lucky 

schoo 1 >;ui ville, !<• rr took up 
in thai school the work 

Rev. Dr. W. W. 1 • : lally 

" Robertson's influence, he • url Profesor Kerr 

Fulton 

- ■ 1 1 is only surviving child ilton. 
Rather no tal with thi 

durin 

.1. Nolley Tati from 1888 to 1896; Dr. Nobli B M 1911; 

and Prof. S T. W:it)<. r, the 

■ 1 in 
chool. T 1 • 



24 SHORT HISTORY OF CALLAWAY COUNTY 

first two years of the Civil War, part of which time its buildings 
were- used by soldiers as barracks, but was reopened in April, 
The principal buildings of the institution were burned on 
the night of February 27, L888, making the largest fire in the his- 
tory of Fulton. Temporary buildings were provided immediate- 
ly, and the work of the school wenl on without interruption until 
new buildings could be erected. Professor Kerr continued as 
superintendent of the school until February 28, 1889, when he 
resigi r having devoted 58 years of his life to the educa- 

tion of the deaf. 

The first institution of higher learning in Fulton was the Ful- 
ton Female Seminary, established in L850 by the Rev. William W. 
Robertson, D.D.,* and at which many of the older women of the 
county received their education. It was the only school for the 
higher education of women between Fulton and St. Louis, and 
during the ten years of it- existence was liberally patronized, 
the attendance probably averaging L25. The <chool opened in a 
dwelling located somewhere southeast of the State Hospital, and 
soon afterward moved into buildings Dr. Robertson erected for 
it- use at the corner of West Seventh and Walnut -tree;-. Mrs. 
Anna Patton Vance, then and now a resident of Fulton, was the 
firsl graduate, receiving her diploma in 1854. At the beginning of 
the Civil War. Dr. Robertson moved to Concord, where he opened 
and conducted a seminary for boys and girls several years. 

From Fulton College, chartered by the officials and members 



• Tli«- strong tendency "f Callaway County toward Presbyterianism 
is due more to the work >>f Dr. RobertBon than t" any other i" raon, He 
of the Fulton Presbyterian Church In L840, and during 
the remainder "f his life preached and taught In the county. He held 
many revivals, and through his earnest exhortation, many persons united 
with the church, Bi ■ itablishing Fulton Female Seminary, Dr. 

Robertson was a member of the board "f trustees <>( Westminster Col- 

••..iii the time the college was established until his death, and f"r 
marly fort dent "f the board, and also during 

•f i he tlmi lis Rnan< personal- 

ndeed, a thorough-going Scotch Presbyteriin. He was *•< »r ti 
in Danville, Ky. December 6, l >>•?. and died In Fulton Ma: 

Robertson was a daughter <'f the Rev, Robert it Bishop, D.D 
earlj of Miami University, Oxford, O She « i * ■ « i about Blx 

months before her husband Two "i their d Mrs. Anna Russell 

and Mrs Nicholas D Thurmond -live in Fulton. 



SHORT HISTORY "I CALLAWAY COUNTY 25 

of the Fulton Presbyterian Church on February 18, 1851, grew 
Westminster College, which is the only college in Missouri "in- 
side of St. Louis that did not suspend during the Civil War. 
Fulton College was owned independent of both presbytery and 
synod, and was located on the site of the present Westmin 

pened on the first Monday in ( >ctober, 1851, and the 
record shows that the Rev. Benjamin Y . D.D., then a 

resident of Fulton and now a resident of Elmwood, 111., was the 
firsl student enrolled. Prof. William Van Doren was the i 
dent and during the first session 50 students were in attendance. 
Westminster College* dates from February . . when it 

was chartered by the General Assembly of Missouri, though Fulton 
was -elected as the site of a Presbyterian college for boys at a 
meeting of the Synod of Missouri in Fulton in October, 1852. 
The corner-stone of the main building and the corner- 

stone of the School for Deaf were laid on July I, 1853, when the 
principal address was delivered by the Rev. Nathan I.. Rice, D.D., 
afterward president of the college. The main building, with a 
chapel building which was erected in 1887, was destroyed by fire 
nil th iber 10, 1900. James Green Smith. t after- 

ward a minister of the Baptist church, who received his diploma 
in 1855, was the first graduate from the college. Judge Roberl 
McPheeters, an honored and respected citizen of Fulton, who was 



• A 
writ ten by the 'f the 

.1 in 1903, Prof. John Jaj Rice, LL.D., at thai time . ■ 
ed i he ma nusi the history u ■ 

Throu Mr. s J. Fisher, "f St. Louis, who 

n member "f 1 1 1 • - college board, the work of his bri 

In book form I olden Jubl which 

Mr. Smith "I Ik- old 

Smith early timet 

mill there l >f Mr. Sum h, I f Wes( ml 

tor an InstltU- 
i inn planted for his ' rust, 

will be tn the 
tion . Mr. Smith in Fult 

dalned ! " Hi'' full work "f the ministry in 
i ■ 

which li 
gradu 



SHORT HISTORY OF CALLAWAY COUNTY 

a member of the class of 1856, is the oldest living alumnus of the 
college. Westminster has had the following presidents: Rev. 
Samuel Spahr Laws. D.D., Rev. John Montgomery, D.D., Rev. 
Nathan L. Rice, D.D.. Rev. Edwin Clifford Cordon, D.D., John 
Henry MacCracken, Ph.D.. Rev. David Ramsey Kerr. D.D., and 
Rev. Charles Brasee Boving, D.D., the latter being in office now. 
Though the college is in its sixtieth year, all of the men of this 
illustrious list are living except Dr. Montgomery and Dr. Rice 
After the Civil War the college for many year- was controlled 
entirely by the Synod of the Southern Presbyterian Church, but 
in L90] the Synod of the Northern Church united in its control 
and support. 

Floral Hill College, located on the west oti] of what is now 
known as Eiockaday Mill, just south of Fulton, was opened about 
by the Rev. I\ R. Dibble, a minister of the Christian Church, 
who came from ( >hio. A comfortahle frame college building was 
erected, a large and competent faculty employed, and until the be- 
ginning of the Civil War the school enjoyed a substantia] patron- 
age. Many of its pupils were from place- outside of Callaway 
County, and but for the war, the college doubtless would be in 
existence today. 

Callaway County's first railroad, which was one of the firsl 
completed in the State, was buill between the years is:.:, and I : 
ami extended from ( '..u- San- I >> — ein hack' into the comity a dis- 
tance of aboul seven mile- to a large cannel coal mine. The road 
was buill by the Callaway Mining and Manufacturing Company, 
which was chartered by the General Assembly in L847, and was 



• Thia date may )>'• slightly Inaccurate. A right-of-way deed "n 
till, in Hi.- recorder's office <>r Callaway County, dated December 10, 
contains the statement thai the rallri hen und< 

while a deed of trusl which was given in November, 1867, Indicates that 
n was completed tl ties Smith, who was for man 

operator in the Fulton fields, came i" Missouri in 1854 i" prospect the 
mine for the company, ami work "ti the railroad had not begun at that 
tini"'. Tousand Foy, >>f Pulton, who was born at Cote B ein in 

■ pari of Ms boyh i • not remember the 

r it..- building "f tio- railroad, and neither does John w. Hord, of 
boy at 1 1..- tin -.'.I he i mo- y the 

..!, ,| from ein. It IS sai.l that 

Samui ial nun. r and opt i 

d< • r on i he locomot Ive. 



SHORT HISTORY 01 CALLAWAY COUNTY 

composed of Pennsylvania men. The company planned to mine 
cannel coal extensively an oil from the coal and 

sell it for commercial uses. To this end the railroad was built, a 
mine opened, an oil factory erected, and a numb con- 

structed for the use of employes. After the railroad was built, 
the product of the mine was shipped on a steamboat owned by the 
company. The enterprise proved to be a wild dream of ri 
for the demand for the coal was small, while the oil-producing 
scheme was impracticable. The property was sold at tru 
sale in St. Louis on September 26, 1859, and was hid in al 
At least part of the first railroad track built by the company was 
laid with wooden rails, and it is -aid that horses were the first 
motive power u-cA. The whole of die track was finally laid 
with steel rails and a locomotive put in ■ 

track and the founda the building at found. 

A large number of men fi i gaged in 

'Ail War, the estimate being from 800 to hi n the i 

and •">~' (l i >n the I 'n i« »n sid< were 

not kept, and probably the name- i>\ many | from the 

ty who enlisted in the conflict have been lost forever. The 
first company I the comity was organized by ("apt. I* 

H. Mclntyre, afterward attorn< ral of Missouri, in i 

to the call of i liborne i ; . Jackson. Captain Mclntyre 

■ in his senior year at Westmii when he 

n April for the war, and though absent from commencement 
in Jui . the faculty granted him his degree. His company 

■ the cop 
least fourteen other companii f Con fed d of 

them full, however) left the county during the war. their captains 
[. \. Si"' 'ii. David Craig, Mil '11. Henry Burt, 



C '.it War 

i the 

i 



SHORT HISTORY OF CALLAWAY COUNTY 

Thomas Holland, Creed Cartel Robert Brooks, Thomas 

Hamilton, Jefferson Gibbs, Robert M. Berry, Preston Wilkerson, 
George Law, W. P. Gilbert, and Charles Austin Rodgers. In 

addition to these companies, a large number of men were recruit- 
ed during the war for the Confederate service. 

I laptains William T. Snell, 1 lenry Thomas and J. J. P. Johnson 
raised companies for the Union, while many men from the coun- 
ty enlisted for service in companies which were organized else- 
where. 

Fulton was occupied during the greater part of the war by 
Union soldier- and militia, and Southern sympathizers were in 
constant fear of imprisonment and death. A number of non- 
combatants were killed in the county by soldiers, most of the 
crimes being committed by "Krekel's Dutch." as the troops un- 
der the command of Gen. Arnold Krekel, of St. Charles County, 
were called. 

The name, "Kingdom of Callaway." came to the county during 
the Civil War through a treaty negotiated by Gen. John B. Hen- 
derson,* representing the Union, and Col m I . J< 
representing the people of Callaway County. In October, 1861, 
General Henderson, with a considerable force of militia, started 
from Louisiana, in Tike County, to Callaway, intending to invade 
the county and bring it- citi/ens under subjection to the Union. 

•The writer wrote to General Henderson, who Uvea In Washington, 
in ;i state "f great opulence, tor hie version "f thla Incident, but 

iy. 

olonel Jones was one of the must picturesque eharacti ra who has 
ever I County, Born In Montgomery County, Kentucky, 

in 1817, he came to Pulton In childhood, waa educated 
. .1 law al the Pulton bar from L843 until near the beginning <>r the Civil 
w ;ir, i [e enter* •! a large trad of land noi 

until ins death on January 24, 1879, lived on the farm. An order 

Colonel Jonea and hla family from the county was Issued by 

I", deral ofl of the n ar, only to be rei ok< ■! a 

chofleld. One of hie aona was nam- a Soutl 
anothi ^htti child, a aon, was named Octave n. 

inty in tl ' Vai • mbly In 1 866 and a 

n with thi 
■ i i.i way" to thla county, thoi 
ills conten iter b< oaust of h 

g the building of 11 
Alton Railroad 



SHORT li \TY 

Hearing of the project, Colonel J< i milled three or 

hundred men and boys and went into camp at Brown's Spring 
Auxvasse Creek, easl of the present Mexico road crossing.* 
After drilling his men a few days, Colonel Jones on the morning 
of Sunday, October 27, sent an envoy under flag of truce into 
Wellsville, where Henderson and his men were located, and that 
day a treaty was made whereby General Henderson agreed ii"t 
t<> attempt to invade Callaway County, ami Colonel Jom 
tn disband his force. Both sides kept the agreement, ami there- 
by the county obtained a name which probably will last through 
the ages. The terms of the treaty were especially fortunate for 
the force under Colonel Jones, fur hi- men were inexperienced in 
war and armed only with rifles ami -hm guns, and in an eng 
ment probably would have been routed, for lieu men were 

drilled and well-equipped. Pari of the equipmenl of the force 
under Colonel Jones consisted of two home-made cannon., one of 
which was made of wood and was hound with iron hoops. 

The only battle fought in the county during the war was at 
Moore'- Mill,t one and one half mile- south of ( !alwood, on Mon- 
day, July 28, L862, between foi der Col. Joseph < '. I' 

and Gen. Odon Guitar, Union. The engagement 
I from a little In n until late in the afternoon. The 

( 'on federate- losl six men and had "i 1 wounded, while the Fed- 
erals losl 13 men ami had 55 wounded. The battle was not de- 
cisive. Porter had about 280 men. and Guitar about G 

( hcrton Run, a -mall engagement on the < Iverton farm, about 
two mile- southwesl of Fulton, on the morning of July 1", 1861, 
resulted in the killing of George Nichols, of Callaway County, 



•Colonel Jones's fori troops under 1 

mand of Gen. s. B. H:i i ton ai 

i y" (p. 111). < }en< ral ' 
.if at' avalrymen, bul the number under Captali 

given. Facts and d l tip' 

w rlter t.> iix upon the 'i 

t Joseph A. Mud.!, "f lie, Md., who was with Porter, 

written a book under th< With Porter in North Missouri," 

' ;i. and from which 
the fi 



30 SHORT HISTORY OF CALLAWAY COUNTY 

who was with the Confederate force, and one or more Federals. 
I [earing that Caldwell's men, of Jefferson City, were about to in- 
wide the county, a force of several hundred men and boys was 
organized to meet the enemy. The home guards camped in 
brush "ii the ( Iverton farm, and when the Federals came in sight, 
tired once at them and then ran. The Federals also tired once 
and ran. The affair has always been the subject of jest. 

The Louisiana and Missouri River Railroad, now known as the 
South Branch of the Chicago and Alton, was built from Mexico 
across the county to Cedar City in 1872. The county court, com- 
posed of men who, under the provisions of the Drake Constitu- 
tion, were appointed by the governor and therefore were not be- 
holden to the people of the county for their position, issued 
sii ih.iiiiu worth of nine per cent bonds for the building of the 
railroad. In 1872 the people of the county refused to pay inter- 
est on the bonds, and then ensued five years of litigation to tesl 
the validity of the debt. The end came when the United States 
Supreme Court, by a vote of 5 to I. decided adversely to the peo- 
ple of the comity. After the decision of the court, a convention! 
was held in Fulton to consider a compromise with the owners of 
the bonds. Some of the members of the convention advocated 
paying 50 per cent of the debt while others desired to pay 75 per 
cent. Much discussion ensued, and finally Richard I lord, of 



•In an addn ered at thi In Pulton al whicn m-- 

last hi the bonds were burned, Judge David il Harris, now judi 
Mi. circuil court of Boone and Callaway counties, said thai only 
|560,600 worth of the bonds "f the counl ctually delivered in 

tin- pr< illroad. i'"r thai occasion Judge Harris pi 

• il ;i : r itn bonded debl of the county, and mosl of the facts 

Kiven here are taken from it, 

t Tli.' convention was called by Judge Hugh Tincher, presiding 
'in county court, i" whom, more than t'> any other pi 
is due credit (<<r having tin- debt reduced Hi \\:is a member nf the 
courl during the time the litigation «:is pending and twice had '" 

Mi. county t" avoid ■■( writs from the I 

Ing him in levy taxes. Judgi born In Monroe County, 

Virginia, mi July 28, 1819, and • i i - < i on his farm, southeast >>f h 

I 1888 ||,. w&h married twice and had fourteen children, 
• r whom are still living. At tin- time "f his death he \\;is one of 
tin- wealthy nun of the county, property, had 1,800 

■ Prairie. 



- HORT HISTORY OF C VLLAWAY 31 

Cote Sans Dessein, proposed thai inasmuch as only five of the 
nine members of the supreme court thought the bonds were valid, 
the county should agi >ume only five-ninths of the debt. 

The 11 was adopted by the convention, and afterward 

mosl of the bi md hi »1< The 

bonds were refunded twice, and the last of the debt was dis- 
charged in 1906, when, on September 20, the last of the bonds 
were publicly burned at a celebration held in Fulton. It i- 

mated thai the debt cosl the people of the county -I." ,000 in 

principal and interesl before it was paid. The I »f the debt 

is the darkest chapter in the history of the county. 

Synodical College, the successor of Fulton Female 
though thirteen years intervened between th< and the 
opening of the other, was located at Fulton by the Synod of 
Missouri (Southern Presbyterian) at a i held at Cape 
Girardeau in October, 1871. Several towns made bids for the 
institution, hut the offer of $10,500 in money and four 
ground valued at $3,500 made b) Fulton was the one accepted. 
The present college building was begun in the spring of 1872 and 
finished during the summer of 1873, the cosl being $25, , in- 
cluding furnishings. The firsl session opened in the fall of 
with Prof. T. < >scar Taylor, of Virginia, as president. Through 
all of its history the college has done splendid work, and at this 
time plan- are being made for the enlargemenl of its plant to 
meet presenl requirerm 

William Wi for girls, then known as the Orphan 

School of the Christian Church of Missouri, opened in Fulton on 

September 18, 1890. Following the burning of the orphan 

1 at Camden Point, Fulton offered $40,000 in money and 

ten acres of land to have it located here, and the offer was 

d. The school opened in the Lehmann Hotel building, and 

during the following winter moved into tl main build- 

;e. When the in /olved in 

financial troubles in 1901, Dr. William S. Woods, a hank' 

Kansas City, cam nd his name was to the 



FFB 24 1913 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



014 572 157 fi 






SHORT HISTORY OF CAM. WWW (or\TY 



college. The college has a large patronage throughout Missouri 
and the Southwest. 

During the years 1892-93 the Missouri, Kansas and Texas 
Railn>ad was built across the southern pan of the county. It 
follows the course of the Missouri River. 

By far the most important development in the county in recent 
years is the building of permanent highways adjacent to Fulton. 
A road district eight miles square, with Fulton almost in the cen- 
ter of it. was organized in 1911, and on December 30, 1911, a 
bond issue of $100,000 was authorized. The seven principal roads 
out of Fulton are being graded at this time, and during the coming 
year will be macadamized to the boundary of the district. From 
this beginning it is hoped that a system of permanent roads 
throughout the county will be developed. 

By the census of L910 Callawa) County bad a population of 
24,400 people, of which 5,228 resided in Fulton. Nearly the 
whole area of the county has been cleared and is productiv< 
large majority of the people own their bonus, and while none is 
immensely wealthy, none is miserably poor. The county is noted 
especially as a mule-feeding center, though its mule industry is 
small compared with it- other live stock interests. The town of 
Fulton is prosperous, owning its water and light plants, and hav- 
ing an adequate sewerage system, besides a public library and 
many miles of paved and macadamized streets. From the town 
and county have gone many men and women who have done, or 

are doing, splendid work in the world. 



LIBPORY OF CONGRESS 














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014 572 157 A 


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